Schwarzenegger doesn’t blame voters for feeling Calif. worse off than when he took office

Schwarzenegger doesn’t blame voters for ill will

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger said Monday he doesn’t blame voters for believing the state will be worse off when he leaves office than when he started.

Trying to strike a sympathetic tone, the Republican governor told a gathering of the Sacramento Press Club that residents have a right to be angry, given the lack of progress in improving the economy.

A new Field Poll released Sunday found 59 percent of registered voters believe the Republican governor will leave California in worse shape than when he took office in 2003.

He also has an approval rating of just 27 percent among registered voters.

“You see everyday that things are not changing much,” said Schwarzenegger, who is in his final year of office before being forced out by term limits.

“People are frustrated because they lose jobs, lose money, they lose their businesses,” he said. “Families are falling apart because of that. There’s a lot of pain out there.”

Schwarzenegger said voter discontent should force Democrats and Republicans to work together to create jobs and address state budget problems. California is facing a $20 billion shortfall on a proposed $83 billion general spending plan for the fiscal year that begins in July.

The governor has called the Legislature into special session to start tackling the deficit immediately.

Schwarzenegger reiterated his opposition to tax increases, saying he prefers to adopt policy and spending changes that can save taxpayers billions of dollars.

“I refuse to punish the people,” Schwarzenegger said.

Democrats are likely to press for revenue increases, saying they refuse to cut services that would make the lives of children, working families and the elderly more difficult.

Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg of Sacramento said the state could generate a one-time boost of $2 billion simply by requiring tax withholdings on payments to independent contractors.

“The need for reform has been self-evident for a long time, but we’ve reached the point where we can no longer address the budget, job market or reforms as separate items,” Assembly Speaker-elect John Perez said in a statement. “We have to deal with them all this year.”